Eastham Energy All-Star Game Rosters

SAN ANGELO – If Josh Neiswander's 18 school passing records don't prove that the former Angelo State quarterback likes to do big things, look back to a week in his life in early December. In a span of seven days, Neiswander got engaged, graduated with his Masters of Business Administration, moved to Dallas, signed with an agent and called his own plays while rallying his team from a deficit to garner All-American Bowl MVP honors.

Neiswander is at it again this week as he prepares for Sunday's Eastham Energy All-Star Game – a showcase of some of the top NCAA Division I seniors – at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Ariz. Neiswander will split time under center with Ole Miss quarterback Jeremiah Masoli and will utilize the likes of Oklahoma's Mossis Madu and Texas Tech's Lyle Leong while trying to impress professional scouts. The game will be broadcast live on Fox Sports Arizona, Fox Sports West, Fox Prime Ticket Southwest, and nationally on Fox College Sports at 5:30 p.m.

AngeloSports.com tracked down the Winnsboro, Texas native earlier this week and this is what he had to say:

AngeloSports.com: I'm sure a lot of people are anxious to know just what you've been up to lately?
Josh Neiswander (JN): Well, I signed with an agent here in Dallas. He is having me train at a facility called IAD, which is Integrated Athletic Development. Mostly what I am doing right now is working out with a quarterback coach who is training me every other day. I also have a conditioning trainer with IAD. Basically, what I'm doing this week, as well as last week is game preparation for an upcoming game in Arizona. I will leave Monday and be in Arizona for a week before the game. When I come back, I will begin an NFL training program for the NFL combine. I'll go in everyday and be training for drills that will be performed at the combine, then I'll be throwing every day.

AngeloSports.com: How'd the opportunity come about for you to play in the Eastham Energy All-Star Game?
JN: I got my film out to agents and scouts of the NFL, and was in the process of interviewing with a few different agents trying to decide which one I wanted to sign with. The head guy from the Eastham Energy All-Star Game called and said he had talked to nine scouts and agents who had called and said they wanted to see me play in the game. I guess they had seen film I had so that's really how I ended up getting into the game. I hadn't even heard of the game until I started talking with agents, but they all knew about it and they told me it was a new game. I know it's a Division I game – it's mostly Division I athletes – so it was something I was excited about. I get to compete with Division I quarterbacks and guys on defense that played Division I. From what I've been told, they've allowed some Division II guys to get in. It's definitely an opportunity I'm looking forward to. I know there is going to be a scout from every NFL team there. My agent and even Coach (Scott) Clough have been sending out film to scouts, and we've gotten responses from them saying they've seen my film, and they'll see me in Arizona because they're coming to the game.

AngeloSports.com: After this, do you have any plans to do attend any pro days or combine like events?
JN: Well, I've been invited to Abilene Christian's pro day, because they have a couple guys who are going to get drafted, and several guys that NFL scouts are looking at. That should be a pretty good pro day. That is something that my agent had set up. As far as the NFL combine, I haven't been invited, and basically the only chance I have at being invited is if I do really well at this game. Even if I do really well, it's still not a guarantee that I will get an invite to the combine, but there is always an opportunity of getting an invite if I do really well and get noticed by scouts. As of right now, I haven't been invited, but there is always a small chance that I could if I perform very well in Arizona. My agent also said if I don't get invited to the combine he was going to try and get me in as an extra which is basically what Tony Romo did. He wasn't invited to the combine, he was what they call an extra quarterback who came in and was throwing to receivers and DB's who were invited to the combine. That's how he ended up getting found by Coach (Jim) Hess.

AngeloSports.com: How does your training now compare with what you did here at Angelo State?
JN: Well, it's different now than it will be in a couple of weeks. Right now I'm doing more of a in-season workout like we did with (Angelo State strength and Conditioning Coach Kelsey Hite). When I get back, my workouts will be a lot different than they were at Angelo State simply because everything I will be training for is going to be specifically for the drills and testing we do at the combine. It's definitely not a workout where you are getting ready for a season and trying to bulk up, put some weight on, so that you can withstand hits for an entire season. It's a work out for speed, it's a work out for agility, so that you can perform well with different tests and drills that the scouts will have you do.

AngeloSports.com: Do you think you were well prepared at Angelo State for your professional career?
JN: I don't think there's any doubt that one advantage that I have over the other guys is that I've played in a pro-style offense for the last five and a half years. I've taken snaps under center, taken the three-, five-, and seven-step drops. I've done play-actions, bootlegs, I've done all of that. You see a lot of guys now-a-days who are in the spread offenses. They're in the shotgun basically their entire career, and it's a huge adjustment from being in the gun all the time to taking snaps from under center, take drops and play-actions, and stuff like that. The offense we ran at Angelo State with coach Clough was a pro-style offense – the reads, the progressions, the drops, the play-action – I mean everything we did is what they do in the NFL. You know we'd go up to the line with two or three plays a lot of times. We had a lot of checks and we were always reading defenses. That's one of the big advantages I have over a lot of the guys – I've been in offenses very similar to the offenses they run in the NFL. Without a doubt, Coach Clough has prepared me more than I think anybody else could have. He did such a great job at coaching me and teaching me the things I needed to know within our offense, and I really feel like that will translate over to the NFL.

AngeloSports.com: You had a unique opportunity to take over the offense at the All-American Bowl with your team struggling and actually called your own plays in the huddle. You think you'll high-jack the offense again Sunday?
JN: Oh, I don't know about that. We'll have more time at this game to prepare. We'll have five to six days of practice opposed to just two at the All-American Bowl – that's kind of how that came about. I don't think I'll be doing any of that out there this time.